By a slim margin, the Cicero-North Syracuse track and field teams lay claim to both of the CNY Counties League National division regular-season championships.
Though the girls Northstars had clinched the league crown before Wednesday’s showdown with archrival Liverpool, the C-NS boys had to beat the Warriors – and did so, leaning on its strength in field events to pull out a 72-69 win at LHS Stadium.
Bryson Mayes emerged as the day’s biggest standout for the Northstars. He won three events, clearing 11 feet 6 inches to take the pole vault, recording a top long jump of 19’5″ and claiming first place in the triple jump by going 40′ 1 1/2″.
Meanwhile, Joel Brousseau won the high jump, clearing 6 feet, and Austin George earned the title in the discus with a heave of 122’5 1/2″. Only in the shot put did Liverpool break the C-NS trend as Nick Leedom won with a throw of 43’5 1/2″.
This totally contrasted with events on the oval, where the Warriors cleaned up as Zavon Watkins and Ryheim Lawes won two events apiece.
Watkins zoomed to a Section III season-best time of 49.2 seconds in the 400-meter dash and also won the mile in 4:44.6. Lawes, after getting first place in the 100-meter dash in 10.9 seconds, also would take the 200-meter dash in 23.2 seconds.
Keewan Rondinello not only was first in the 400-meter hurdles in 56.9 seconds, he keyed a Liverpool relay sweep. Rondinello and Lawes joined Ryan Ronk and Steve Fiorello in the 4×100, where the Warriors posted a top time of 43.3 seconds, and that same quartet won the 4×400 in 3:28.9.
All of this followed the 4×800, where Liverpool’s team of Alex Christensen, Connor Buck, Anthony Ostuni and Dan Muldoon prevailed in 8:30.6. These wins left C-NS with little to counter with, though it did claim a couple of vital races.
Frank Volino, thwarted by Rondinello in the 400 hurdles, would not get caught in the 110 high hurdles, winning in 14.6 seconds, again the best clocking in Section III this spring. Neil Gill had the other title, in the 3,200-meter run, leading a strong Northstars contingent as he posted a top time of 10:24.5.
Up at Bragman Stadium, C-NS salted away its own league title against Liverpool in a bit more comfortable fashion, beating the Warriors by a score of 82-59.
